Not that I want or the Bears need me to give them any publicity, but tickets to the new “Bears Expo” go on sale today at 10 a.m. For those that aren’t familiar, in 2008 for the first time the Bears are moving the Fan Convention that was held at the Hilton and Towers from 1998-2007 to Soldier Field, and now calling it the Bears Expo.

Information about what will actually happen at this expo beside autographs is available here. The fact that there are no details about what will happen at the expo aside from autographs, in which I’m not interested, and no drinking in the parking lots, means I probably won’t participate.

I didn’t miss a Fan Convention from 1999-2005. In the early years there were some truly great sessions to attend, and my favorite part were that tons of independent vendors were invited to sell very unique Bears items. And I bought a ton of it for my research archives and Chicago Bears Bar. But recently, I hear from a friend that used to be a yearly vendor, the Bears have priced out or shut out many of the independent vendors so they can monopolize what is sold there. That means much less of the unique memorabilia-type items and more and more of your standard NFL-issue and overpriced jerseys, jackets, etc. No interest there from me.